Sarah Thomas: A Notable First
It has been an exciting week in the world of sports as Sarah Thomas was the first woman to officiate an NFL playoff game.
This is of particular interest to me as my earlier research interests when pursuing my PhD in Industrial-Organizational Psychology centered on discovering factors that may contribute to why there were so few women in leadership roles. Although an official in an NFL playoff game is not a leadership role in the traditional sense, it is a position of authority, prestige, and expertise.
The position of an NFL official is not necessarily one in which you picture a female when you hear the term. The fact that Sarah Thomas has been able to break through to a male-dominated position is something of which to take notice. Whenever someone is the “first” to accomplish something, that paves the way for others who may have thought about it, yet didn’t think it was something that was possible. It brings about change and begins to shatter biases and stereotypes and instead focus on the job itself.
These perceptions should change and combating gender roles plays a huge part. Traditional perceptions of gender roles associate women as being more nurturing, compassionate, and sensitive to the needs of others, whereas men are typically expected to be more independent, assertive, and aggressive. A more male-dominated position might come with biases that skew perceptions and expect more masculine traits are needed to be successful. Yet — this isn’t the case. Instead, any person who is qualified to perform the requirements of the job should be considered for it. As more and more women decide to pursue breaking those barriers, we can expect to see more firsts in positions such as these.
